© 2006 Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.The information contained herein is subject to change without notice
GET CONNECTEDPeople. Training. Technology.
HP Technology Forum 2006
Getting Started with Alpha Virtualization
Stanley F. QuaylePresident, Quayle Consulting Inc.
3 July 14, 2006
Session Goals• Understand virtualization
• Learn about issues raised by virtualization
• Experience migration with:−Magnetic tape−Disk−DECnet−OpenVMS Cluster−CD-ROM−FTP
4 July 14, 2006
Required Experience• Working knowledge of HP OpenVMS system
administration
• If you brought your application, experience in your application
5 July 14, 2006
Can It Be Ported?• Do you have the design documentation?
• Do you have all the source code?−What about DECmigrate?
• Operating system dependency?−Middleware? (COM, Advanced Server, Rally)
• Hardware dependency?
• Target platform−Can your code really be reused?−What about stability?
• Can you validate the result?
6 July 14, 2006
Why Virtualize?• Alpha last order date: October 25, 2006
• Smaller boxes
• Use modern hardware
• Reduce power consumption
• Reduce hardware maintenance costs
• “Encapsulate” applications
7 July 14, 2006
Virtualization Overview
AlphaHardware
CHARN-Alpha
Host OS CPU(s)
Application
Layered softwareSystem libraries
Operating System
Application
Layered softwareSystem libraries
Operating System
Host OS
Alpha Emulator
Host CPU(s)
8 July 14, 2006
Alpha Emulator
Alpha CPUEmulator
Disk controller
Virtual disk
Tape image
Tape controller
System businterface
Serial ports
AlphaConsole
EthernetMemory
Host system diskAlpha CPUEmulator
Disk controller
Virtual disk
SCSI disk
Tape image
Tape controller
System businterface
Serial ports
AlphaConsole
SystemConsole
EthernetMemory
SCSI Tape
Host system disk
9 July 14, 2006
Virtualize to What?
• Open Source−Working on it, but nothing yet
• CHARON-AXP−Commercial product−Support available from VARs−Current platform: 64-bit Windows
10 July 14, 2006
OpenVMS Licensing
• HP will transfer existing licenses to CHARON-AXPhttp://h71000.www7.hp.com/openvms/sri-charon-vax-emulator.html
−$ 2,000 total
11 July 14, 2006
MultiNet & TCPware Licensing
• Process Software will transfer existing MultiNet and TCPware licenses to virtual solutions
• Fee depends on emulated system−$ 350 for workgroup-size systems−More for enterprise-size systems
12 July 14, 2006
Missing In Action
• Some software vendors no longer exist
• Licensing methods:−LMF license PAK−MAC address of Ethernet card−Hardware values of Alpha
• CPU• HW_MODEL• SID• XCPU
13 July 14, 2006
Software Support
• HP software support (OpenVMS, layered products) is available for CHARON-AXP on HP hardwarehttp://h71000.www7.hp.com/openvms/sri-charon-vax
-emulator.html
• Oracle software support available for CHARON-AXP
www.oracle.com/technology/products/rdb/htdocs/rdb7/charon_vax.html
• Other ISV’s support virtual systems less formally
14 July 14, 2006
Security Concerns
• How to secure your host−Keep host patch-current−Shut down unnecessary services−Remove unnecessary software−Don’t connect to the network
• How to secure your virtual Alpha−All the old Alpha tools and tricks still apply−HP OpenVMS Guide to System Security
15 July 14, 2006
Let’s Get Started!
• You have the following items:−PC−USB dongle−Install CD−A “bootstrap” VMS system image
• Do not insert the dongle into the USB port yet!
16 July 14, 2006
Software Installation
• Insert CD
• Run install.exe, follow prompts
17 July 14, 2006
Software Configuration
• Create a directory C:\DISKS
• Copy \DISKS\*.* from the CD to C:\DISKS
• Remove the “read only” property from the files in C:\DISKS
• Open the configuration file in Notepad
• Change the network interface name (near the end of the file) to the device which is to be used for the emulated Alpha
• Save the changes, and exit Notepad
18 July 14, 2006
Virtual Alpha Startup
• From the Start button, select CHARON-AXP, then CHARON-AXP Launcher
• Browse to your configuration file
• Run it
• A Hyperterminal window will appear, which is the Alpha console
• You now have a Alpha on your computer!
• At the >>> prompt, type “B/1 DUA0”
19 July 14, 2006
Student Configuration
IPDECnetSystem
192.168.1.108 ...
1.108 ...LAB8 ...
192.168.1.1071.107LAB7
192.168.1.1061.106LAB6
192.168.1.1051.105LAB5
192.168.1.1041.104LAB4
192.168.1.1031.103LAB3
192.168.1.1021.102LAB2
192.168.1.1011.101LAB1
20 July 14, 2006
Our Source Alpha Today
• Workgroup-size Alpha−VMS V7.3-2−VMSCLUSTER, 1 vote−No SYSTEM password−1 RZ-29 disk, device name DKA0−8 mm tape drive, device name MKA300−RRD42 CD drive, device name MKA400
• DECnet address 1.573
• TCP/IP address 192.168.1.5
21 July 14, 2006
Tape Migration
• Tape has the following advantages−Tried-and-true technology−Most Alpha systems have tape backup−Doesn’t require a network adapter−Very familiar system management tasks
• There are disadvantages−Tape is slow−Reliable tapes for older formats (TK-70, etc.) are
hard to find−Reading the tape on the virtual system requires a
SCSI tape drive
22 July 14, 2006
Tape Migration – Procedure
• On the Alpha, do backups of all disks−The system disk requires /IMAGE
• Once the backups are done, move the tape drive to the virtual system−The configuration file has to change to use the
tape drive
• Do an image restore to new container files on the virtual Alpha
23 July 14, 2006
Disk Migration
• Disk has the following advantages−Very fast−Doesn’t require a network adapter
• There are disadvantages−Only SCSI disks can be migrated this way
• DSSI and CI disks have no equivalent hardware today
−Handling a disk, especially a very old one, can cause it to fail
• If there’s an external disk array, it could be connected to the virtual Alpha permanently−Not highest-performance solution, but migration
is almost zero time and low risk
24 July 14, 2006
Disk Migration – Procedure
• Shut down the Alpha cleanly
• Connect the disk drives to the virtual system−The configuration file has to change to use the
drives
• Do a /IMAGE backup from the physical disks to the container files
25 July 14, 2006
DECnet Migration
• DECnet migration has the following advantages−Pretty fast (faster than tape)−Almost every Alpha has DECnet installed−BACKUP can write savesets to DECnet nodes
• There are disadvantages−Some Alpha systems don’t have a network
adapter
26 July 14, 2006
DECnet Migration – Procedure
• For each physical disk−BAC/IMG <p>: <vn>”system”::<vd>:
[000000]A.BCK/save• <p> is physical disk name• <vn> is virtual system DECnet address• <vd> is virtual system “scratch” container file
• Then, on virtual system−MOUNT/FOREIGN <vt>:−BAC/IMG <vd>:[000000]A.BCK/save <vt>:
• <vt> is the virtual disk to which to restore
• For multiple disks, these steps can be overlapped if the “<vd>” container file is big enough
27 July 14, 2006
Cluster Migration
• Cluster migration has the following advantages−Pretty fast (faster than tape)−All disks to be migrated appear to be local−Migration can be incremental, with mixed
physical and virtual cluster members
• There are disadvantages−Virtual system must be able to join cluster as NI
member−The cluster must MSCP-serve all needed disks−Frequently, no one remembers the cluster
password
28 July 14, 2006
Cluster Migration – Procedure
• On the virtual system, for each physical disk−MOUNT/FOREIGN <vt>:−BACKUP/IMAGE <p>: <vt>:
• <p> is physical disk name• <vt> is the virtual disk to which to restore
29 July 14, 2006
CD Migration
• CD has the following advantages−Usually faster than tape−CD drives on virtual Alpha are lots faster than
RRD-series Alpha drives
• There are disadvantages−Creating ODS CD-ROM’s on VMS was not
generally possible until V7.x−CD’s have a limited size (700 MB max)
• It’s possible to install VMS from scratch using CONDIST disks
30 July 14, 2006
CD Migration – Procedure
• If the CD is not in ODS-2 or ODS-5 format, follow FTP procedure
• Change virtual Alpha configuration file to use PC’s CD drive as a VMS CD drive−Note: Windows must be rebooted if any
Windows-format CD was inserted in drive before starting virtual Alpha
• Use COPY or BACKUP to copy files as necessary
31 July 14, 2006
FTP Migration
• FTP migration has the following advantages−No use of “DEC proprietary” protocols−Pretty fast−You can FTP files from the host system, which is
always present
• There are disadvantages−Some Alpha systems do not have a TCP/IP stack−Some Alpha systems don’t have a network
adapter−FTP doesn’t preserve VMS file characteristics or
boot blocks
32 July 14, 2006
FTP Migration – Procedure
• Configure and start FTP Server on virtual Alpha
• Using FTP, transfer files to appropriate locations on virtual Alpha
• Be sure to use binary transfers for all but text files
• BACKUP savesets require a fix before restore:−http://www.stanq.com/reset-backup.txt
• Use Info-ZIP with the “-V” option−http://vms.process.com/ftp/vms-freeware/
33 July 14, 2006
Post-Migration Tasks
• Before booting the virtual Alpha−Make copies of disks as migrated, just in case−Disconnect from network to prevent conflicts with
physical Alpha
• Analyze boot messages−Complex cases may need a minimum boot first to
sort out problems−Logical names in SYLOGICALS.COM might be
needed for some hard-coded disk references−Mount commands may be incorrect in startup
files
• Re-configure DECnet and TCP/IP
34 July 14, 2006
More Post-Migration Tasks
• Regression-test application(s) completely!
• Re-evaluate backup strategy – tape might not be necessary anymore
• Is there a tape archive to be converted?
• License transfers
• Update service contracts
• Shut down Alpha and sell on eBay−Or donate to a local VMS Hobbyist
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